On the (overzealous) trial of Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens, the one-time Trotskyist who became an forceful and unapologetic ally of the Bush administration in defending the invasion of Iraq, died just over a year ago. To mark the occasion -- fittingly enough -- Verso has released a broadside attack on the late essayist, which I reviewed in today's Washington Post.

The book is Unhitched: The Trial of Christopher Hitchens and is written by self-described British Marxist and activist Richard Seymour. In short, it's a missed opportunity -- I got a better sense of Hitchens' unattractive side from Katha Pollit's 1100 word essay in The Nation than from Seymour's over-zealous prosecution -- but don't let me spoil the review for you by going on about it here!

If you're looking for other book recommendations, I recently reviewed a book on the history of the idea of governing the world (also for the Post) and a new account of how the ideology of slavery undid the Confederate war effort long before Appomattox (in the current Washington Monthly).